Advertising device



Allg. 7, 1945. W V, HARp ADVERTISING DEVICE Filed oi. 1, 1942` 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 7, 1945. w. v. 's'HARP ADVERTISING DEVICE Filed Oct. l; 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTo RME;

terest of the observers.

l Patented Aug'. 7, 1945 ADVERTISING DEVICE William Velsen Sharp, Pocatello, Idaho, assigner of iii'ty-one per cent to -Warren S. Mendel' and nineteen per cent to Phyllis M. E. Sharp, Pocatello, Idaho Application October 1, 1942, Serial No. 460,466

' s claims. (ci. 4-0-138).

This invention relates to an advertising device for -use in vehicles such as street-cars, buses, etc. One of the objects is to provide an animated sign including a xed element'and a movable element, the up-and-down vibration ofthe vehicle while in motion operating to drive the movable element in one direction until it reaches one limit of its movement whereupon themovement is automatically reversed and said element will trav in the opposite direction.

A further object is to provide an advertising device the fixed and movable elements of which can be caused to cooperate so as to attract the attention of passengers and also convey some message of interest to the observer and which also can be of an advertising nature if so desired.

It has -been long recognized that ordinary signs used in vehicles do not attract the desired attention after once being observed because they rely solely upon printed matter to arouse the in- The present invention is designed to intensify the interest of theobserver by utilizing a movable element in connection with a fixed element so that the changing relative positions will maintain an interest.

A further object is to provide an animated sign which will operate whether or not a vehicle is Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevation with the sign support and the two display elements removed.

Figure 3 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 2.

Figure 4 is a section on line l-, Fig. 2, said section being taken also through the support an the display elements.

Figure 5 is a detail view of the reversing mechanism in a position opposite to that shown in Figure 2.

Referring to the' figures by characters' of reference, I designates a supporting strip which can be of any desired length and is located pref erably above'the windows of the vehicle where the signs are to be displayed. Any desired num` ber of signs can be mounted on this support,v de? pending upon thev` length of each sign. For example one sign could be extended the full length suitable points on brackets 3, each bracket being moving along an inclined grade, it being due tc vthe invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims, it being .understood that changes may be made in the construction and arrangement 'of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred 'form of the invention has been show-n.

Iii/said drawings Y Figure 1 is a'front elevation of the sign,.a portion of the fixed display element being broken away.

provided with a` clip 4 adapted to straddle the support I as shown in Fig. 4. Posts 5 are extended upwardly from the ends of the strip 2 and are adapted to be engaged by the stationaryv .displaying element 6A which can be attached to A the posts in any suitable manner as by means oi fasteners 1.

A track 8 is extended longitudinally of the top surface of strip 2 and from post to post. This track can be of any construction desired. In the.

drawings it hasbeen shown made up of a strip of sheet metal 9 having inturned side portions Ill merging into upwardly diverging lflanges II,

these flanges constituting guides. Tripping pins I2 are extended upwardly from thetrack adjacent to the posts 5 and a guide element I3, which can bein'the form of a taut wire or any other suitable device, connects the posts adjacent to `those sides' thereof remote from the fixed display element 6.

The movable display element, which has been indicated at I4, is adapted to be held by clips I5 or the like to one side of a carriage I6 which, as shown, is made up of plates Il held apart by spacing sleeves I8 to which they are joined by screws 'I9 or the like. The clips, I5 are provided with enlargements 20 in which are seated arms 2l extending in opposite directions respectively and each offset, as at 2|' so as to extend across the adjacent end of the carriage and engage the guide element I3. This engaging end of the arm has a depending finger 22 for sliding engagement with one side portion of the guide element I3. Thus when the fingersy of the two arms 2| are in proper position, they will hold the carriage against lateral movement relative to the guide element I3. Additional fingers y23 are connected to that side of the carriage I6 nearest the element I3 and extend downwardly across said guide element as shown particularly in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. Thus, with the carriage properly mounted on the track as hereinafter` explained, it will be held against lateral displacement and maintained in a substantially vertical position while traveling toward either of the posts. v

For the purpose of supporting the carriage there are provided two downwardly diverging levers 24 and 25 pivotally mounted between the sides of the carriage near the .top thereof and near the respective ends, as shown at 26. The lower portions of these levers are forked and the levers diverge downwardly, each of them having an outwardly and upwardly extended forked link 21 pivotally connected thereto as indicated at 28 and having its upper or outer end yieldingly supported by a spring strip 28 one end of which is pivotally connected to the upper end of the link as at 30 while the other end is anchored in the adjacent sleeve I8.

The pivots 28 constitute bearing pins on which are mounted toothed wheels 3I and 32 respectively, these wheels being supported on the track 8 between the guide flanges II. Associated with each of these wheels is a double pawl, one pawl being indicated at 33 while the other is indicated at 34. Pawl 33 is pivotally mounted in the forked lever 24 and has an arm 35 extended outwardly over wheel 3l and another arm 36 extended downwardly back of said wheel. Pawl 34 is disposed oppositely to pawl 33 and is pivotally mounted in the forked lever 25, it being provided with an upper arm 31 extending outwardly from the carriage and over wheel 32 while another arm is extended downwardly back of said wheel as indicated at 38.

A spring strip 39 is anchored at its ends in the respective pawls and to the middle portion of the spring is xedly secured an arm 40 extending upwardly therefrom. This arm is connected by a link 4I to a shifting lever 42 fulcrumed at its upper end within the carriage as indicated at 43 and extending downwardly below the carriage where it is provided with a laterally extending tripping nger 44 projecting between the pins I2. A spring 45 connects the arm 40 to the lever 42 and acts to urge said arm toward the pivot 43 whenever the arm and its link 4I are moved past a dead center.

Assuming that the parts are positioned as shown in Fig. 2, it will be noted that should a verticalvibration or bouncing action of the structure be caused by corresponding movement of the vehicle in which it is mounted, the levers 24 and 25, restrained by the inertia of, the carriage I6, would be moved apart at their -loWer ends against the action of the spring-pressed links 21. As the spring 39, when positioned as in Fig. 2, willexert van upthrust on pawl 33 and a corresponding downthrust on pawl 34, the result of the action described will be to cause arm 38 of pawl 34 to engage and push downwardly on the adjacent toothed portion of wheel 32 While arm 35 of pawl 33 will be pulled back over the adjacent teeth of wheel 3l. This action takes place during the upward movement of the supporting structure. When the rebound occurs, arm 35 of pawl 33 which has been moved backwardly or set will be thrust forwardly, thereby imparting a slight rotation to wheel 3l in the same direction as wheel 32 had already been thrust and as this action is taking place, the arm 25 of pawl 31 will be pulled back or reset relative to Wheel 32. This intermittent rotation of the wheels will result in the carriage being moved longitudinally in one direction along the track and along the guide element I3. This movement will continue until the tripping nger 44 comes against the tripping pin I2 in the path thereof. When this occurs the lever 42 will be shifted from the position shown in Fig. 2 to its opposite extreme position, its lower end swinging to the right from the position shown in Fig. 2. This will cause the spring-restrained link 4I to thrust downwardly on the arm 40 and force it to the left into a position opposite to that shown so that the spring 39 will be changed to exert a thrust through arm 35 against wheel 3I and through arm 31 against the Wheel 32. Consequently further bouncing action of the vehicle or other support will result in intermittent feeding of the carriage in the opposite direction or to the right in Fig. 2 until the parts are again reversed by contact of the linger 44 with the other post I2 in the path thereof. Thus the carriage will be slowly moved intermittently from one end to the other of the track, thereby causing the display element I4 to change its position relative to the display element 6. It will be of course obvious that with two display members disposed in this manner, many attractive effects can be produced and these will instantly catch the eye of the observer and maintain the interest, thereby increasing the value of the sign as an advertising medium.

It will be understood of course that tilting of the lever 42 from one position to the other moves the connection between arm 40 and link 4I past a dead center so that the spring is maintained in either extreme position to which it is adjusted. this spring 39 thus holding the pawlsin their changed positions until another shift is made.

Importance is attached to the fact that the horizontal movement of this carriage and the parts carried thereby is dependent on the upand-down vibration or bouncing of the vehicle in which the sign is located. Thus the advancing yoi? the movable member is effected irrespective of the grade or incline of the track or street along which the vehicle is traveling.

What is claimed is:

1. The combination with a supporting structure mounted for up-and-down movement, of a carriage mounted thereon, means for guiding the' carriage longitudinally of th'estructure` means operated by the up-and-down movement of said structure for propelling the carriage in a substantially horizontal direction along said structure and the inertia of the yieldingly supported body for effecting movement of the carriage in a substantially horizontal direction along said structure.

3. In an animated sign the combination with a structure mounted for up-and-down movement with a vehicle in which it is located, of a carriage including a body supporting wheels engaging the structure, and, yielding supporting means connecting the body and wheels, said means including downwardly diverging pivoted levers, and

vmeans operated by the up-and-down movement of the structure and the inertia of the carriage for effecting rotation of the wheels and movement of the carriage in a substantially horizontal direction along the structure.

4. In an animated sign the combination with a structure mounted for up-and-down movement with a vehicle in which it is located, of a carriage including a body supporting wheels engaging the structure, and yielding supporting means connecting the body and wheels, said means including `downwardly diverging pvoted levers, and means operated by the up-and-do-wn movement of the structure and the inertia of the carriage for effecting rotation of the wheels and movement of the carriage in a substantially horizontal direction along the structure, and means controlled by the longitudinal movement of the carriage for reversing the direction of movement of said carriage.

5. An animated sign for use in motor vehicles or the like including a structure mounted for upand-down movement with the vehicle body, a carriage mounted on said structure and including a body, supporting wheels, downwardly diverging levers constituting connections between the body and wheels, yielding means for restraining the swinging movement of the levers, each of said wheels constituting a ratchet and a support, a double pawl cooperating with each of the wheels, yielding means for maintaining the pawls when in one position to rotate the wheels in one direction during relative movement of the levers and body, the inertia of the body and the up-and down movement of the supporting structure during the movement of the vehicle body cooperating to effect said relative movement and the actuation of the pawls thereby to drive the carriage in one direction along the supporting structure, and means for automatically changing the positions of the pawls when the carriage reaches one limit of its movement, thereby to reverse the action of the pawls upon the wheels to drive the carriage in the opposite direction.

6. An animated sign for use in motor Vehicles or the like including a structure mounted for upand-down movement with the vehicle body, a carriage mounted on said structure and including a body, supporting wheels, downwardly diverging levers constituting connections between the body and wheels, yielding means for restraining the swinging movement of the levers, each of said wheels constituting a ratchet and a support, a double pawl cooperating with each of the wheels, yielding means for maintaining the pawls when in one position to rotate the wheels in one direction during relative movement of the levers. and body, the inertia of the body and the up-anddown movement of the supporting structure during the movement of the vehicle body cooperating to effect said relative movement and the actuation of the pawls thereby to drive the carriage in one direction along the supporting structure and means for automatically changing the positions of thepawls when the carriage reaches one limit of its movement, thereby to reverse the action of the pawls upon the wheels to drive the carriage in the opposite direction, said means including a shifting lever pivotally mountedv in the carriage, a spring strip connecting the pawls and anchored thereto, an arm rigidly extended from the spring strip, a link connection between the arm and the shifting lever, and cooperating means on the supporting structure and lever for shifting the position of the lever when the carriage reaches a predetermined position, thereby to move the arm and link past a dead center and shift the position of the spring strip and the pawls connected thereto.

WILLIAM VELSEN SHARP. 

